Window Clings, Garland, and The Fab Five- Decorating My Pop Window for the Fourth of July

I stumbled upon it one day as I searched for information about our upcoming Disney trip. The minute I saw it I knew it would be an obsession that my husband would not understand. It would be the perfect thing to soak up the little free time I had between that moment and the time we left for Orlando, plus a little extra (so that I would have to take time out of the time I had set aside for things that really needed to get done.)

I was going to decorate my window at Pop Century for the Fourth of July.

I saw photo after photo of windows decorated for every occasion and no occasion. It was inspiring. I was really ready to be on vacation and if making cool decorations for a few weeks before I left could make me feel like I was there already, I was on it.

For the uninitiated, window decorating is a higher art form. When one is staying at a hotel in Orlando where it is allowed, and one is so inspired, one may cover the hotel windows with an assortment of window clings, pictures, stuffed animals, and Christmas lights. There are no written rules, but from what I have gathered the main rule is don’t make a mess and clean it up if you do (‘cause if you leave if for housekeeping they can (and should) charge you).

When I decided I wanted to do this, I started collecting ideas. At this point, I was collecting in secret because I knew my husband would think this was nutty. I don’t have little ones I can blame my crazy ideas on; it’s just the two of us. So, I had to run a covert operation. Image after image of Mickey and his ears were saved on my jump drive. Then, I started adding true treasures: a personalized family with ears for my husband, parents, and I done by an artist on DISboards(if you haven’t been to their Creative DISigns section you have to check out the talent!) and pictures I was able to alter and personalize!!!

While I was collecting, I also was doing a little shopping. We always are at Disney over the 4th of July so of course my window needed to have a patriotic theme to it. I hit the dollar store here in town (you don’t want to break the bank –save it for vacation!) and found some great things. I bought red, white and blue garland to drape across the top of my window and red, white, and blue gel window clings. The nice thing, I discovered, about dollar store items is you don’t feel bad about just tossing them in the garbage when you’re done with them. I also purchased some suction cups with hooks and I dug through all the Disney craft things I had amassed over the years. Wow! It was very impressive.

It was time to start printing all I had saved on the computer. This totally blew my cover. My husband could not understand what this possibly had to do with getting ready for our trip. Now we were already in a bit of a crunch time-wise because our luggage was traveling two weeks before us. Long story, but my parents were driving down and we were flying. They were making some stops along the way but it would be cheaper for us to send our bags with them. Great idea, right? Right, except for the having everything ready two weeks early part.

Eventually, I got packed what I could and what I couldn’t I snuck along into our precious little carry-on space. I had been smart and had packed some scissors, different adhesives that I thought would be hotel acceptable (tape in the wrong place can be a big no-no and can actually cause housekeeping to remove all your hard work), and a few things I thought might work but later didn’t. In those final two weeks, I printed so much I had to run for more printer ink twice. I had so much fun!

Finally we made it to Orlando and our arrival was just as planned. We landed at 11:30a.m. I knew by the time Magical Express got us to Pop Century my husband would be ready for a little rest before taking on The World. After quickly meeting up with my parents at Downtown Disney to grab lunch and the bags, he did just that and I went to work.

I tore open all the bags and found all of my supplies. I lay out (and remembered) all the amazing pictures I had found. Mickey saluting the American flag. A sign stating simply, “What’s more American than Mickey Mouse and the 4th of July?” Numerous mouse-ear shaped, patriotic window clings. An accordion picture frame filled with pictures of my husband and me on our previous Pop pilgrimage that I could stand in the window ledge. As I began to assemble the window, it seemed to assemble itself. Before I knew it, I was having to choose things I could bear to leave out because I didn’t have room- and that’s a pretty good size window.

My husband got up from his “little” nap and took a look at what I had done. He was impressed by all the work I had put in. When my parents stopped by they thought I was a bit odd to do all that but they did really like it. We had asked to be in a quieter building, so ours was one of the only decorated windows, so I think the best part was seeing and hearing others as they saw the window for the first time. People stopped, smiled, and really seemed to enjoy what they saw. It was a way of feeling a little Disney Magic made by myself. Throughout our eight days I made two changes: I added a picture of Mickey and Minnie we received for anniversary and on the second-to-last day I added a pouting Mickey that read “But I don’t want to go home.”

Overall, I was THRILLLED with the experience and plan on improving on it next July. In fact, I’ve already started collecting some images to print on the new window clings I bought, learned how to use my new Cricut with Disney cartridges, and convinced dear hubby that scissors and suction cups are an excellent reason to get an Owner’s Locker. Decorating your Disney resort window is more rewarding than I ever imagined.

I bought blank window clings at an office supply store. I need to see if I can find a deal on them online. They are a little pricy and you have to remember white doesn’t print (in the future I’ll paint it in.) Then I either designed my own or went online to DISboards. If you search window decorating you’ll find lots of amazing things. Some of the people there create free to use art that I downloaded for my projects. Many will even personalize it for you! Another tip:you can’t use tape but magnets are allowed on the door. I also decorated our door like crazy!